


what if it's you

by emilia_kaisa



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Ski Jumping RPF
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Humor, Javi and Yuzu being best bros, Multi, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22305034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilia_kaisa/pseuds/emilia_kaisa
Summary: “Thank you for game.” Ryoyu said “Good luck, Javi. Javier-?”“Fernandez.” Javi said, suspecting that it was the case for Ryoyu’s questioning tone, and apparently was right, because his new friend nodded, his eyes twinkling.“Kobayashi.” he said, touching his chest with one finger “Ryoyu, remember. I have a brother.”“Cool.” Javi grinned, feeling both confused and amused “It was nice meeting you, Ryoyu.”“Same.” Ryoyu grinned back “Really same.”AKA one weird meeting during the last days of Javi's stay in Pyeongchang starts something he would have never expected.
Relationships: Javier Fernández & Yuzuru Hanyu, Javier Fernández/Ryoyu Kobayashi
Comments: 37
Kudos: 20





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This fic exists for one simple reason, I love them both to pieces and they would look great together. So, I hope you'll enjoy this story, I'm really excited!  
> Title taken from Reba McEntire's song.

Javi winced a little when he heard loud laughter right next to his right ear, and a moment later he felt Yuzuru’s weight leaning against his shoulder heavily, his long hair tickling a side of Javi’s neck.

“Bad.” Yuzuru mumbled, his eyelids fluttering “You are really bad.”

“Yeah, yeah, you mentioned a few times.” Javi sighed, rubbing Yuzuru’s back, and his teammate sighed deeply, head falling a little to the side as he clearly started falling asleep.

“Poor Yuzu.” Keiji chuckled, sipping from his glass, and Javi smiled at him, shrugging with one shoulder.

“Maybe I will get him to his room, if you remind me the number?”

“Hmm, I think 27.” Keiji hummed and Satoko nodded, sending Javi a smile.

“You come back later? Party isn’t over.”

“I will think it through while taking mr Sleepyhead upstairs.” Javi chuckled, nudging Yuzuru gently “Come on, we’re going.”

Yuzuru grumbled something but did what Javi asked for, basically hanging on his shoulder, and Javi suppressed a sigh. He hadn’t been planning on joining the party at the Japan House, but Yuzuru was insisting, and Javi felt like he owed his something for breaking out the retirement news in such a way and place. The party itself wasn’t bad, but Javi was tired, and he didn’t know too many of Yuzuru’s countrymen, and there were moment he felt a little left out, not able to follow the conversation too much. He managed to have a pretty good time though, hanging out with some skaters he knew and then having a really nice and long conversation with Mikito Tachizaki, who turned out to be a great company, as he was a bit older than Javi and totally understanding his situation. 

Javi managed to take Yuzuru back to his room, despite his friend’s best efforts to tackle them both to the ground. 

“Sleep, sle-eep.” Yuzuru sang, crawling under the blanket and curling into a ball, sighing deeply and closing his eyes. Javi chuckled and took off Yuzuru’s shoes before finding a bottle of water and put it on the bedside table so it would be easy to reach. 

“Yes. sleep well.” Javi chuckled, tucking Yuzuru’s feet under the blanket before leaving the room quietly. He wasn’t really tired or sleepy, and for a moment he considered going back to the party, but he quickly gave up the idea. He would probably end up feeling a little awkward and out of place. So Javi decided that he would go back to his own room, sit in his bed with a beer and maybe watch replays of some event. 

He walked down the corridor, deep in thoughts until he almost got smacked in the face when someone opened the closest door rapidly, and Javi yelped, stopping in the last moment.

“Ah, sorry, sorry!” a guy waved, smiling at him apologetically.

“It’s okay.” Javi smiled back and the guy nodded, shrugging a bit awkwardly before walking away. 

He left the door open a bit and Javi couldn’t stop himself from peeking inside curiously, and he saw a room similar to the one they had in their team house also, with table tennis and sofas, and all kinds of things to entertain the athletes. Javi couldn’t stop himself from stopping and getting a better look inside, curious if there was some fancy stuff inside, but he stopped at the door abruptly when he saw that someone was inside. 

“Hi.”

There was a guy sitting on one of the pool tables, his feet dangling in the air as he looked at Javi, his head tilted with interest. 

“Uh, hello.” Javi smiled awkwardly “Just, uhm, wanted to- well, I will go-” he took a step back, but the guy shook his head, reaching behind himself and then waving at Javi with a 0.3 can of beer.

“Want?” he asked and Javi wondered if that guy was even old enough to drink, but didn’t voice that thought. He was planning to decline politely, but then he reconsidered, because why not? It was the olympics, time to drink and meet new people, and the guy in front of him looked friendly enough, and Javi felt himself smiling.

“Yeah, uh, thanks.” he said, coming closer and taking the drink “Cheers.”

The boy smiled back, taking a sip from his own can and looking at Javi with the same curiosity in his expression. 

“I’m Ryoyu.” he said, his words heavy accented but understandable “Ski jumping. You?”

“Javi. Short from Javier. Nice to meet you. And, yeah, figure skating.”

“Ah!” Ryoyu brightened up, snapping his fingers “Bronze medal?”

“That’s me.” Javi grinned, pleased that he was kind of recognized “Why you’re not on the party?”

“Why you?” Ryoyu asked with a cheeky smile and without missing a beat, and Javi chuckled, shaking his head.

“Good question.”

It was kind of unexpected, but Javi was feeling very comfortable in that new company. Ryoyu had an easy, friendly smile, and didn’t seem flustered by the fact that his English wasn’t the best. Javi wondered why he wasn’t celebrating with others, and he was for sure aware of the party, the music thudding dully somewhere in the background, but decided not to ask, maybe he was just not in the mood for hanging out with people. Maybe he had done badly on his competition and wanted to drink his sorrows away in loneliness? He didn’t look too sad, though-

“You play?”

“Huh?”

Ryoyu grinned and hopped off the table, patting it and tilting his head a little, clearly amused.

“This. Want to play?”

“Hm, yeah, why not.”

Javi wasn’t the best pool player, but he beat Ryoyu pretty smoothly; his new friend didn’t seem to mind at all, smiling as it was the best fun he had in a long time.

“I don’t know how.” he announced cheerfully when putting the playing stick down, and Javi blinked quickly, confused. Damn, that kid was odd, Javi kinda liked him already. 

Shame they would never meet again.

“Okay. Uh, thanks for the beer, and game.” Javi said, starting to feel a little tired “I will get going.”

“Okay.” Ryoyu nodded, stepping closer and extending his hand “Your phone?”

“Uhh?”

“I need. For a moment.”

Confused, Javi fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Ryoyu, who took it and after a few clicks gave it back with a cheeky smile, and when Javi glanced down on the screen, he saw that apparently he was following one more person on instagram.

“Thank you for game.” Ryoyu said “Good luck, Javi. Javier-?”

“Fernandez.” Javi said, suspecting that it was the case for Ryoyu’s questioning tone, and apparently was right, because his new friend nodded, his eyes twinkling.

“Kobayashi.” he said, touching his chest with one finger “Ryoyu, remember. I have a brother.”

“Cool.” Javi grinned, feeling both confused and amused “It was nice meeting you, Ryoyu.”

“Same.” Ryoyu grinned back “Really same.”


	2. Chapter 2

The next time Javi heard about Ryoyu was in late April, and it came from the most unexpected place.

"There is this crazy thing, let me show you-" Raya babbled, trying to reach for his phone and Javi giggled quietly. He was feeling a bit tipsy, but they both were, well, to be specific everyone was tipsy, it was a warm spring evening and they were on a party and ought to enjoy life.

"Yeah, what is it?" Javi asked, half expecting to see some weird tinder profile, but instead of some pics of hot dudes he got shown some video that was so bright he had to close his eyes, barely registering a commentator's screaming in Japanese.

"Uhh, what the fuck, you want to blind me?"

"Sorry, sorry." Raya laughed "Okay, now look! I found it by accident, but damn, these motherfuckers are crazy-"

By crazy people Raya apparently meant ski jumpers, because what Javi got showed into his face was a half minute video of some guy flying incredibly high, crashing in a way that made Javi's bones hurt, and then getting up as if nothing happened at all. That seemed crazy indeed, but what caught Javi's attention was the title of the video, a strikingly familiar name.

"You know when it was made?" he asked and Raya shrugged, putting the phone back to his pocket.

"No idea? All the comments were in some weird language, but I guess you can google the dude?"

"Yeah." Javi nodded absently, taking a small sip from his glass.

He remembered that guy, a quirky Japanese boy who had no idea how to play pool and had made Javi subscribe to his instagram account. Javi wasn't really thinking about it too much, just sometimes spotted some new pic, chuckled quietly at the fun memory and then kept on scrolling down. He was never into ski jumping, and his brief encounter with Ryoyu hadn't changed it, but now, he couldn't help but feel a bit intrigued. Also, how was it possible that such a fragile boy was still in one piece, if he was crashing like that?

"No glooming, dancing!" Sonia yelled, appearing from nowhere, and taking his hands, and Javi laughed, all the thoughts about ski jumping and Japanese boys leaving his head.

When he woke up the next day, it was close to noon and he was not as hangover as he had been expecting. He made himself coffee in the biggest cup he had in his apartment, prepared some good and very late breakfast and decided to spend the next few hours on nursing his slight headache and surfing on the Internet.

He opened his youtube, ready to maybe rewatch some tennis highlights, or maybe an old episode of Masterchef, but then suddenly he remembered that video Raya had showed him, and well, why not to check out a bit more?

He typed Ryoyu’s name in the search bar and found not so many videos, most of them titled in some languages that weren’t English and for sure not Japanese, and when Javi watched a few of them briefly, he noticed the same tendency in the comment sections. Luckily none of the videos contained falls, but Javi once again wondered how old that kid actually was.

‘It’s not like I have something better to do.’ he mused before turning his questions to his well trusted uncle google.

Wikipedia disappointed him greatly, as Ryoyu's page in English was holding almost no information, but at least Javi discovered that the guy had been an adult already when they shared that beer in Pyeongchang. Out of curiosity he skipped through the pages in other languages- there weren't too many options, honestly- and to his slight surprise he noticed that in some of them there was a bunch of text, like for example in German, Norwegian and Polish, which clearly told him those were the countries ski jumping was the most popular in.

"Interesting." Javi mumbled to himself, clicking a few more links and opening new tabs. He had never analyzed that sport too much, but since he had nothing better to do, he decided that it was never too late to learn something.

Since that, he started paying a little bit more attention to Ryoyu's posts. Now that he was more educated in the area of ski jumping, he was finding it kind of fascinating, the sport itself and the guys and girls who decided that yes, it was something they wanted to do. People would say that skating was crazy enough but damn, that was the whole new level. It was intriguing, and Javi was finding himself imagining himself asking Ryoyu- well, because he had never met another ski jumper- some questions. He even wondered if maybe he could write him, but decided against it, feeling like it would be awkward, the guy probably didn't remember him at this point at all.

* * *

August found him in Japan again, busy with performing, with interviews and smiling and catching up with people, and after a few intense weeks he felt like he needed a bit of a vacation.

"I still have a few days till my flight back, I would so go somewhere." he sighed during the last group dinner, but his voice disappeared in the loud chatter, the only person hearing him being Dai, who was sitting right in front of him.

"Oh yes? Any preference?" he asked with polite interest and Javi shrugged, smiling.

"I don't know, would love to see some match or something." he said jokingly, but Dai nodded seriously, clearly really thinking about it.

"Well, I don't know about matches." he said after a few seconds "But I know there is, hm, ski jumping in Hakuba. Summer edition? I don't think it's interesting to you, though-"

"Oh, wait, really?" Javi gasped, surprised, because somehow he had completely overlooked the fact that there was some summer edition, what the heck they were jumping on?

"Yeah, I've read something, but it's not really popular-"

"It sounds fun, tho. Thanks, Dai." Javi grinned, reaching for his phone to do some googling. Now he had time and opportunity, and he wasn't going to pass the opportunity to watch in person some competition and see what it was all about.

Sitting in a train, Javi snapped a picture- he looked really cute on it by the way, he was really pleased- with a simple caption saying: _going to watch some ski jumping in #Hakuba! Excited!_

He nodded to himself and then decided to take a little nap, there was a few hours still ahead of him. When he woke up, he saw a few replays to his story, mostly surprised faces or laughing emojis, but among them there was something from a person that hadn't written him ever before.

_ ryo_koba: it will be nice to see again, bronze medal _


	3. Chapter 3

Hakuba was a village.

Javi knew that, since he had done some googling before deciding to go on that trip, but when he stepped out of the train, he still looked around with some amount of awe. He could see nice, simple buildings, clean streets, green fields and amazing mountains surrounding the place. It seemed calm, almost lazy in the warm rays of sun, such a contract to the incredibly busy cities he had visited during the past weeks. Nothing was telling him that there was some sport event going on, and for a moment he felt a little bit unsure, but then he collected himself, opened his maps application and went on a quest to find his hotel which he had booked the day before. The walk there took him a bit over twenty minutes, but he didn't mind it. His luggage wasn't too heavy and he really enjoyed some movement after long train ride. As he walked, he saw more people, some of them looking clearly European and usually wearing matching clothes- Javi guessed they were athletes and their fans.

The receptionist greeted him with a bright smile and a tone of polite, but very curious questions.

"We don't have that many guests in the summertime." she smiled, handing Javi a check in form "People come here mostly skiing, in the winter."

"I've heard! But I came to watch that ski jumping competition, actually." Javi explained and she looked a bit surprised, but then smiled even wider.

"That's great! We don't have many people coming for that..."

"Really? Isn't ski jumping popular in Japan?" Javi asked, handing her the form back.

"Not these days." she shook her head "Right, that's everything, mr Fernandez, here's your key. In case of any questions, please do not hesitate to ask, I will be happy to help you."

"Thank you!."

The first things he did after dropping his stuff in his- very pretty- room, was to jump under a shower and change into fresh clothes. Then he sat down on the bed and reached for his phone, wondering what to do now. The competition was taking place the next day, pretty early, and Javi was now starting to feel in his bones the intensity of the past days and long travel- so he decided to spend the afternoon on a terrace of the hotel restaurant with his phone and headphones, and something nice to eat.

Javi really liked Hakuba, and he decided that after about an hour of sitting on a very comfortable chair and looking at the beautiful landscape. There was a sense of calmness to that place and Javi loved it, the feeling of being able to take a deep, long breath, and just sit in calm and quiet. It seemed that there wasn't too many guests in the hotel now, which matched what Javi had read and heard- that the village was mostly a ski resort. Well, he was going to see soon if ski jumping was a big thing or not in Japan right now.

Grinning to himself, he snapped a picture of the landscape spreading in front of him and put it in his stories. Just like he was predicting, he didn't have to wait long for a reply.

_ ryo_koba: so you really come? _

_ javierfernandez: already here! _

_ javierfernandez: competition is tomorrow right? _

_ ryo_koba: yes, 11 _

_ ryo_koba: and on Saturday too _

Javi hummed quietly, fingers ghosting over the screen as he wondered what to type back. He wasn't going to lie, he would really like to see Ryoyu again. The guy was definitely interesting, and fun, and Javi was always up to meet new people. Still, it was a competition time and he didn't want to impose himself.

But he should have known that Ryoyu wouldn't left him hanging.

_ ryo_koba: we can hang out tomorrow if you want to see? _

_ ryo_koba: but my English still not the best when google can't help _

Javi couldn't help but chuckle, faintly remembering some interviews he had seen online, so reminding him of Yuzuru at the beginning of his career, when he would smile brightly while his translator was helping him out.

_ javierfernandez: no worries! and yes, would love to meet! _

_ ryo_koba: after its finished, by the main gate? _

_ ryo_koba: it can take some time, we need to do stuff after _

_ javierfernandez: not a problem! _

_ ryo_koba: see you tomorrow! _

Well, that went surprisingly easy. Javi smiled to himself and leaned back in his chair, sighing as he watched the sun disappear slowly behind the horizon.

Now, after months and weeks of media appearances and shows,for the first time this summer he felt like he was having a true vacation.

* * *

The next day Javi learned two things.

First, jumping hills looked really intimidating from up close.

And second, it truly wasn't too popular. The stands and green area down the hill were occupied mostly by groups of members of national teams and families with children. It wasn't a lot, especially when taking into the account that the entrance was free. Javi guessed that maybe summer jumping wasn't as attractive as in the winter, but he was still excited to see it in person.

Seriously, people were crazy, jumping from that.

There was something mesmerizing, in watching them sliding down the in-run, earning some crazy speed before jumping and flying, flying until they landed, and it took a few competitors for Javi to stop screeching in horror everytime they were nearing the ground. It was almost addicting, the rush of adrenaline, like during the best football match, and Javi was so into it he almost missed when it was Ryoyu's turn. But then he saw him, swimming in the air elegantly before landing pretty far, maybe even reaching the best distance. Javi clapped, ridiculously proud, as if a fact that they knew each other personally was making him special, somehow.

There was a short break in between the competition rounds, and Javi used it to go grab some snack and ice tea, and then came back to his place, sitting comfortably.

The second round went in the flash, and Javi clapped as hard as he could when Ryoyu won after a beautiful jump. He couldn't help but notice that the crowd, even though small, was really enthusiastic and loud; it made him feel warm, when he recalled so many skating competitions that had taken place in half- empty arenas, but people's encouragement was always great, even if it was only a few people.

The medal ceremony was short and nice, and after that Javi walked to take his waiting spot. It didn't take long, because Ryoyu appeared after fifteen minutes, looking extremely relaxed, wearing a black t-shirt, colorful shorts and a baseball cap.

"Hello." he said, stopping next to Javi and giving him a toothy grin

"Hi! Congrats on the win! It was so cool to watch!"

"Thank you, I am happy." Ryoyu said, smiling even wider "Hungry?" he asked, and Javi chuckled, nodding.

"Always."

It was going so smoothly Javi almost forgot that they still barely knew each other. Ryoyu was asking him about his stay in Japan, listening curiously when Javi was telling him about the shows, and Javi asked him a few questions about ski jumping scoring, that made Ryoyu scowl jokingly and reach for his phone.

"English not friend." he complained and Javi smiled.

"I think it's pretty good!"

"Mhh. I tell you secret." Ryoyu said, moving a little closer and making show of it "I pretend not speak at all, so jorn- journ- reporters don't bother."

"Wow." Javi gasped, pretending to be scandalized "So evil!"

"Yes." Ryoyu agreed happily "Okay, here, best food in Hakuba."

Things were going fast, but honestly, Javi was enjoying that immensely. Ryoyu had such an easy-going attitude, he was eager to laugh and joke, and sometimes he reminded Javi of his Spanish friends.

"It is really nice, that you here." Ryoyu said, sipping on his cold drink "I don't know, that Spanish people have, hmm, curious, about ski jumping."

"Well, I was never interested before, but-" Javi stopped, because suddenly he thought that saying  _ I got interested after meeting you  _ wasn't probably the best choice. He didn't want to suggest anything, and it wasn't like he was feeling that kind of things. He just liked the guy, and hell, that kid was five years younger. He was nice and cool to talk to, but that was it.

Ryoyu didn't seem to be bothered by Javi's unfinished thought, because he kept on smiling, tilting his head with his eyes twinkling.

"I know things, about you." he announced, and Javi narrowed his eyes, confused "Many things, on the Internet, in Japanese. You are very popular here. More than me." he laughed and Javi smiled, but felt a tiny bit uncomfortable by the way Ryoyu had said that, as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.

"So, do you like jumping in summer?" Javi asked, changing the topic, and Ryoyu shrugged.

"It is okay. But don't go much. Need to work."

"Oh, you're working?"

"Yes. In, hmm, buildings..." Ryoyu scrunched his nose before snapping his fingers "Construction. Construction company. Almost all of us work there."

"Wow, I didn't know that..."

"Not popular, no money." Ryoyu said, chuckling "But it is okay. More freedom."

"That's cool." Javi nodded, smiling with sympathy "And most of winter you spend in Europe?"

"Yes. Germany, Austria, Norway, everywhere. I like it. It's beautiful."

"I hope I could see it one day. It must be so cool, in winter." Javi mused and Ryoyu smiled broadly.

"Then you should." he said, and Javi blinked rapidly, because it kind of sounded like and offer, but then Ryoyu's phone dinged loudly and he winced, checking the screen "Sorry. Uh, team meeting."

"Sure, sure!" Javi waved, understanding very well "I get it, run!"

Ryoyu smiled, and hesitated for a second before standing up.

"Tomorrow, there will be party, in the hotel. After competition. With everyone, all teams? You come?"

"Well-" Javi hesitated before deciding that what the hell "Yeh, why not? Thanks!"

"Great." Ryoyu chuckled "Looking forward."   
  



	4. Chapter 4

On the second day of competition, Javi dressed himself with a bit more attention, but still not over the top, it was still a hot summer and he was on vacation, and he suspected that the party he Ryoyu had invited him for wasn't going to be too fancy. He picked light pants in color of green olive and white cotton t-shirt, grabbed his sunglasses and declared himself ready for the day.

There was a bit more people at the hill than the day before, but Javi still had no problem finding a place to sit. It was as exciting as before, or maybe even a bit more, and Javi spent two great hours on cheering and having a few almost heart attacks, still not really used to the craziness of the sport.

Ryoyu won again, much ahead a young Russian lying in second, and Javi watched the ceremony with a smile before slowly making his way to the entrance, where him and Ryoyu had agreed to meet. He didn't have to wait long until he heard his name, a bit mispronounced and definitely not said by Ryoyu.

"Hello." a young Japanese guy smiled, standing in front of him "Hello, I am Yukiya! Very nice to meet you! Ryoyu ask me to, to get you to the bus!"

"Okay." Javi smiled back, a little surprised but not bothered at all "It's very nice to meet you too. What bus?"

The bus turned out to be a team Japan car, and Javi was welcomed with loud greeting from guys already inside, waving at Javi and sending him wide, friendly smiles.

"Ryoyu always late." Yukiya explained before sitting next to a guy introducing himself as Yuken, and Javi nodded with understanding before sitting on a free spot next to a man around his age, looking vaguely familiar. After short conversation Javi learned that his neighbor's name is Taku, and after five more minutes it turned out they had actually met each other briefly one some party during Vancouver Olympics.

Javi quickly discovered that the whole Japanese team was pretty chill and very friendly, maybe not as confident and open as Ryoyu, but they all seemed excited about meeting him, so when Ryoyu finally got into the bus, they were all on the best terms.

"Hi." he grinned at Javi, sitting on the other side of the alley, a baseball cap sitting on his head firmly "Good to see you."

"You too. Congratulations for the win."

"Thank you. Now have pretty trophy." Ryoyu chuckled. They kept on chatting for the whole ten minutes of the ride to the hotel, and Javi managed to remember names of all the other guys in the car. There were Shohei and Daiki, both older than Javi and a bit more reserved than the rest, but still friendly and polite; there was also Junshiro, Ryoyu's older brother with a small but charming smile, and Naoki, with a bright laughter and a camera in his hands. In the backseat there were also Kento and Kenshiro and a bit grumpy guy the others referred to as Tomo.

During the short drive Javi wondered how the whole party was supposed to look like, if maybe it was going to be something official like their banquets and maybe he was terribly underdressed? But then they stopped in front of the hotel and the moment they walked inside, Javi knew that his fears weren't going to come true. There hotel restaurant was filled with laughter and some not too loud pop music playing in the background; there was a long buffet by one of the walls and some space for future dancing, and also plenty of tables, a lot of them standing also at an open terrace where a lot of people were gathered already, taking advantage of the good weather.

"I will go back in ten minutes," Ryoyu said, tapping Javi's shoulder "Need other clothes."

"Sure." Javi smiled and Naoki offered to have a first drink with him "You like photography?" he asked, gesturing at Naoki's camera, and the boy nodded fiercely.

"Yes! My passion." he announced proudly before sending him a shy smile "Can take a photo of you?"

"Yeah, sure!"

Naoki snapped a few pics and nodded, clearly pleased.

"I like people." he said with an adorable smile and Javi felt an enormous wave of sympathy raising inside of him.

They poured themselves a small glasses of some funny cocktail based on wine, but Naoki excused himself soon, chasing after someone he wanted to take a picture of. Javi laghed, and didn't even have a chance to get lonely, because there was a guy walking towards him, determination written all over his face, and for a hot second Javi was sure he was about to get kicked out, but he couldn't have been more wrong.

"Hi! Oh my god, it's so awesome to see you, can I maybe get a picture?"

"Oh, yeah, of course." Javi agreed, a bit dumbfounded, and the guy smiled before standing next to him and snapping a few selfies quickly and then turning to look at Javi again.

"Jeez, I apologize, where are my manners. I'm Mackenzie, it's such a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi." Javi smiled, shaking Mackenzie's hand and vaguely recalling hearing his name on the hill "I'm-"

"Javier Fernandez, yes, I know!" Mackenzie exclaimed happily "Man, my sister is going to flip, she is such a fan."

"That's nice, thank you." Javi smiled "I didn't, hmm, expect..."

"I'm Canadian, I know my ice sports." Mackenzie grinned "Congrats on that olympic medal man, I was rooting for you."

Javi smiled widely, but before he had a chance to say something there was someone else jumping into the conversation.

"Mac, who are you harassing again?" a tall, skinny guy with a wide smile and American accent put his arm around the Canadian, eyeing Javi with a friendly expression "Hey there!"

"Jesus, Kevin, you're embarrassing yourself." Mackenzie rolled his eyes, but his voice was fond "Kevin Bickner, the American, Javier Fernandez, Spanish figure skating champion-"

"Ohhh, that's cool! Nice to meet you dude!"

That was an unexpected but super nice encounter, and Javi was always happy to meet new people, so he smiled brightly before asking-

"So, where's the next competition?"

"Russia. In Chaykovsky, then we go Romania and then two more comps." Mackenzie explained and Javi nodded, impressed.

"You guys travel a lot."

"I mean, winter is so much more intense, but summer grand prix is always nice too. There is not as many guys as in the main season, and the prestige ain't as high, but it's always a nice opportunity. We can jump on some nice hills."

"Oh." Javi hummed, not knowing how to comment that, and Kevin smiled at him.

"I think that ski jumping in our countries is kinda like skating in Spain." he said and Javi nodded, smiling with understanding.

"You mean there is not many places to train and people don't really know the sport like that exists?"

"Pretty much." Kevin snorted, and in that moment Ryoyu appeared, standing next to Javi and smiling broadly.

"I'm back!" he announced as if it wasn't obvious, and Mackenzie chuckled.

"I was about to ask what are you doing here, Javier, but I see you know our champ here?"

"Yeah, we met in Korea and I was in Japan for a bit so decided to stop by." Javi explained and Mackenzie nodded.

"Cool! See you around!" he said, giving Ryoyu a high five before walking away with Kevin hanging off of his shoulder.

"Sorry it was long." Ryoyu apologized, and Javi shook his head.

"Nah, that's fine. Nice outfit." he couldn't help but add, and Ryoyu smiled, pleased.

"Thank you."

He indeed looked nice, in light blue bermuda shorts and a white short-sleeved shirt with little prints of palm trees all over it.

"I'm hungry. And you always hungry too, so." Ryoyu winked and Javi laughed, because he indeed was hungry and all the food displayed on the buffet looked really tempting.

They filled their plates, grabbed the refills and went to seat on the terrace, and Javi still had no idea who those people around him were, but they all smiled at him, so he kept on smiling back, marveling at the warm, summer easiness of all of that.

"I've heard the next competition is in Russia, you're going too?" Javi asked when they sat down and Ryoyu shook his head.

"No, I go back home. Need much preparation for winter. New coach is, hmm, dem- dima-"

"Demanding?"

"Yes!" Ryoyu snapped his fingers "He say, not so much games, not so much cars, focus, focus."

"Yeah, I get that." Javi chuckled "So these are your hobbies? Games and cars?"

"And catching fish. And shoes." Ryoyu admitted with a sunny smile "And you, Javi? What plans after going home?"

"Well, I have a show to work on, and then I will go back to Toronto for a moment to train for my last competition."

It still scratched a little, saying that out loud, and Ryoyu must have noticed a little shift in Javi's mood because his smile turned softer.

"It is important." he nodded slowly "I hope you do good, Javi. I will watch."

"Well, thank you. I-"

"Hello my friends!" exclaimed someone with a strong Russian accent, and a moment later two shots of vodka landed on their table, put there by a guy that Javi identified as the one who had got second place "Have a drink with me, please!"

Javi hesitated for a moment, and Ryoyu looked at him with eyebrows raised like in the challenge and Javi's stomach churned weirdly for some unknown reason.

"Well cheers, then!"

The guy introduced himself as Zhenya and then moved to the next table, and Ryoyu laughed loudly, the honest, happy sound making Javi chuckle too. It was easy, being with Ryoyu, talking about their hobbies and exchanging some notes about their favorite exercise. Javi almost didn't notice passing of the time until the outside lamps were turned on and he realized that it was getting late and he had a train to catch in the morning.

"You have to go?" Ryoyu asked, with something like disappointment, and Javi nodded.

"I have a flight tomorrow evening, so..."

"I see." Ryoyu sighed "Is your hotel far? I walk with you."

"Thank you." Javi smiled honestly, because he found himself not really wanting to say goodbye yet.

He had no idea when could they meet again, and that was a shame, because he really liked Ryoyu. He was fun and full of surprises, had an easy laugh and a bright smile, and he was a pretty damn good athlete.

"So, Javi." Ryoyu hummed as they walked slowly, side by side "You like ski jumping?"

"It's kind of crazy, but I like it." Javi said "I'm glad I came."

"Me too." Ryoyu said quietly, kicking a little rock that was in his way.

He was more quiet than before, and Javi guessed that it was feeling a bit tired after two competitions and then a party, and that was totally understandable. Javi still had a great time, and was happy that he had come there, to that little Japanese village that was now holding a special place in his heart.

"So, that's me." he said, stopping close to the entrance "I, uh, thank you."

"I thank you." Ryoyu said, smiling gently "For coming, and all." 

"Yeah. My pleasure." Javi nodded, not really feeling like going inside, but he didn't want to be awkward and drag things on for too long "I, hm, I hope we will meet again, maybe when you'll be in Europe?"

That would be pretty tough, since both their schedules were probably packed, but it felt right, to say that, and Javi wasn't lying. He would love to meet Ryoyu soon.

"I hope." Ryoyu nodded and then his smile turned wider, eyes sparkling playfully "I did some research." he announced, and Javi raised his eyebrows in question.

"About?"

"How to say bye to a Spanish man." Ryoyu chuckled, and then he leaned forward, kissing Javi's cheek chastely "Goodbye, Javier Fernandez." he said, his voice fond "I will see you soon." he added before walking away, leaving Javi completely stunned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bangs her hands on the table* Canadian and US jumpers deserve better  
> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do I have in my defense? Well... it hasn't been a full year since the last chapter?  
> I love you, each one of you giving this weirdass story a chance!

Ryoyu grinned at his phone, quickly choosing a few pictures he had made at the castle trip before and sending them, and then put the phone away, catching Junshiro’s amused glance. 

“I don’t even have to ask who you are writing to, do I?” he asked and Ryoyu rolled his eyes before picking his glass and taking a long sip. 

“Then why are you commenting on that?” he asked lightly and Junshiro gave him a pointed glance. 

Ryoyu knew that Junshiro had nothing bad to say, but his older brother had a tendency to worry, and he looked at life more seriously in general. But it was a warm summer afternoon, they were sitting in a nice restaurant in a lovely Romanian town, and Ryoyu didn’t really want to have The Talk- but well, apparently Junshiro had other plans. 

“You like him.”

“Thanks for stating the obvious.” Ryoyu snorted and Junshiro sighed quietly, shaking his head.

“Don’t be like that, you know I have nothing against it, just, I’m wondering.”

“About what?”

“What is… your plan?” Junshiro asked, making a vague hand gesture, and Ryoyu shrugged. 

“Finish my drink, order some ice cream-”

“Roy, I swear-”

“What am I supposed to tell you, it’s not anything big. He’s nice and fun and I like him, and I hope to see him again soon. You don’t have to stress about it.”

“Okay.” Junshiro nodded stiffly, but then he sighed and sent Ryoyu a small smile “Don’t be mad at me, you know it’s only because I care.”

“I know.” Ryoyu smiled before glancing back at his phone and seeing a string of heart eyes emojis that made him feel pleased and happy. 

It was the simple truth, what he had told Junshiro- he liked Javi. He liked him from the moment they met, when Ryoyu was having a moment of gloom, both satisfied with his results and still kind of disappointed. And then he appeared, with quite an uncertain smile on his lips, and Ryoyu’s mood had been lifted immediately. 

He was never into figure skating, to be honest. It was obviously a super popular thing in Japan, but when it came to winter sports Ryoyu really cared only about nordic combined- except for ski jumping, of course- and beside that he liked baseball, and sometimes a bit of soccer, and that was it. But after that party, when he had come back to his room, he put his headphones on not to wake Junshiro up, and watched some videos of Javier Fernandez skating, and he couldn’t look away until the urge to go to sleep was so strong he just couldn’t resist it.

In the following days he had watched most of what the Internet had to offer and he didn’r tegret any second, and now he even had some vague plans of following some competitions in the upcoming season, if only his schedule would allow that. He remembered Javi telling him that he had plans to compete only once, a goodbye competition, so Ryoyu had put a note about that in his phone, hoping that he could make it.

So, yes. He had met a talented and funny guy who also made an effort to come and see Ryoyu compete in person. And Ryoyu had every intention to keep him close, and the simple reason for that was that he liked people, and he liked having cool friends.

Just like that.

“Okay.” Junshiro said suddenly and Ryoyu looked up, tore out from his little bubble “But if you want to invite him for dinner to introduce him to mom and dad, give me some heads up.”

“Sure.” Ryoyu snorted, amused by the familiar brotherly teasing “But don’t worry, I don’t have that kind of plans.”

Junshiro snorted and decided to focus on his phone, probably thinking about what to write to the lady of his heart. Ryoyu used that moment to check his messages again and he grinned when he saw a really cute picture of Javi’s cat. He quickly insterted a string of appropriate emojis and hit send, and then he looked up and sent his brother with a sly grin.

“What?” Junshiro asked and Ryoyu raised his eyebrows.

“Maybe now we can talk about the person you still haven't proposed to…”

“Oh shut up, you little brat-”

* * *

The last competiton of the season ended up being cancelled, but everyone took it with a lot of understanding, just happy that they got a final decision after hours of waiting and postponing the start, the jury still hopeful for a while before finally cancelling the event. And welll, it would be dumb to be angry at the weather, so no one was upset, including Ryoyu, even though after really good qualification round he had been hoping for some good result. But he thought his result in the general classification was really decent, especially taking into account that he hadn’t competed on every stop of the tour. That was a good reason to be satisfied, and adding to that the fact that the Summer Grand Prix was done and the winter season was so, so close- it felt like a good reason to celebrate.

So when Ryoyu heard knocking so loud he almost dropped his phone, and a smiling Shohei asked if he was up for going for a drink with the rest- whomever he meant by that- Ryoyu quickly agreed. He quickly finished what he was doing on one of his phone apps, a green bird smiling at him proudly, and after a quick glance in the mirror he followed his friend outside. 

Klingenthal was a lovely town, cool both in winter and in those early days of summer, even if the weather wasn’t perfect. They walked in a big group, Japanese, Norwegians, Poles, everyone, speaking and joking in their accented English, and the atmopshere was so familiar Ryoyu was just smiling constantly, because how could he not? They weren’t maybe the closest of friends, but they were basically spending months just travelling and competing together in a pretty limited group, so there wasn’t an option that they wouldn’t feel enormous sympathy for each other. 

They ended up in a pretty cool looking bar, and after moving some tables around they could all sit down together. They were still more or less divided by nationalities, but in a proximity close enough to make the conversation between everyone easy. Ryoyu landed in between Taku and Mackenzie, and the Canadian was kind enough to collect drink orders from his side of the table and then he delivered it with help from Matthew, and Ryoyu was tryly impressed that one person could carry so many glasses.

“Thank you.” Ryoyu smiled, taking a long sip. He wasn’t much of a drinker, but it was a good occasion and German beer was really tasty.

Ryoyu’s smile widened even more as he got a little idea. He put the glass down and snapped a quick picture of it, typing a short message to go along.

_ Ryoyu: competition cancelled so it’s the end of summer season _

He didn’t expect an answer to come back so quickly, but his phone buzzed after barely a minute.

_ Javi: that’s a bummer! but seems like you’re having fun! _

_ Ryoyu: I am! _

_ Javi: so now going back home? _

_ Ryoyu: yes, for a few weeks. Then I’m back in Europe! _

_ Javi: cool! :D _

Ryoyu let the conversation stop there, having in mind that he could always resume it later, and it would be rude to keep on texting while in a company.

“No special guests today?” Mackenzie asked with a grin when Ryoyu glanced at him with an amused smile.

“Maybe next time.” he chuckled and unlocked the screen one more time, to send only one short message, his mind taking him back to Hakuba and their goodbye, and how stunned Javi had looked, and his grin grew even wider.

_ Ryoyu: :* _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, don't hesitate to tell me what you think!


End file.
